Helmet enclosure



Filed April 7, 1964 V. D. IACONO, JR

HELMET ENCLOSURE '5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGURE I FIGURE 4 INVENTOR.

VINCENT D. IACONO JR.

March 28, 3967 v. D. IACONO, JR

HELMET EN CLOSURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 7, 1964 FIGURE 2 J mm 0 WMQM 0 N March 28, 3967 v. D. IACONO, JR

HELMET ENCLOSURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 7, 1964 FIGURE 3 INVENTOR.

VINCENT D. IACONO JR.

FlGURE 6 March 23, 1967 v, o, JR 3,310,811

HELMET ENCLOSURE Filed April '7, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIGURE 5 I N VEN TOR.

VINCENT D. IACONO JR.

BY FIGURE 7 4 0 m JMM March 28, 396? v. D. IACONO, JR

HELMET ENCLOSURE 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April '7, 1964 FIGURE 9 FIGURE IO FIGURE INVENTOR.

VINCENT D. IACONO JR.

United States Patent 3,310,811 HELMET ENCLOSURE Vincent D. Iacono, Jr., Rumford, R.I., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Filed Apr. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 358,131 16 Claims. (Cl. 2--6) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmentalpurposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The invention relates to protective helmets for military personnel or other persons who are likely to be exposed to noxious gases or fallout from atomic explosions. The usual helmet lacks any protector for the face and also lacks any protection against fumes or the like. Thus, for complete protection, a helmet user must provide gog les or a separate face shield plus a separate respirator or gas mask. Although combinations of face shields or of eyeshields with helmets are well known there is thought to be none which include a resp-iratoror the like. A problem in providing such a device is that all protective helmets of the military type space the shell from the wearers head by a cradle comprising a cushioning sweatband and head straps. These permit free entry of air and gases between the sweatband and shell. This arrangement while cool in warm weather is extremely cold in cold weather.

With the foregoing -in view, it is an object of the invention to provide improved means for sealing the helmet and face mask combination against entry of gases, fumes.

or the like without impairing the vision of the wearer or interfering with his use of weapons of the type which are fired from the shoulder.

A further object is to provide such a device which is readily converted back to a normal helmet and/ or helmet and face mask combination.

A further object is to provide a face mask-helmet combination wherein a gas tight seal is provided between the face shield and helmet shell, and wherein means areprovided for sealing portions of said helmet and shield to an impervious garment portion so as to completely sea-l all normal entrances to the helmet and shield.

Other objects and advantages reside in the specific structure of the invention, the structure of the several elements of the same, combinations and subcombina-tions of such elements with each other and with a garment portion, all of which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the attached drawing illustrating one species of the invention and to the following specification wherein the invention is described and claimed.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the invention showing the parts in the inoperative positions parts being broken away and parts being shown in vertical section;

FIGURE 2 is a view like face shield in the lowered or operative position;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view but taken from the opposite side and showing the garment portion secured to the helmet and face shield;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view on an enlarged scale with parts broken away and taken substantially on the plane of the line 5'5 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 66 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 1 but showing the FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational View showing a detail.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view showing certain details of structure, parts being broken away;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged, fragmentary elevational helmet from any suitable air-supplying'rtujbing and air source, not shown. A flat air duct 15 may be secured to the interior of the shell 11 in any suitable manner to receive air from the inlet port 14. The discharge end 16 of the duct 15 is disposed centrally of the shell 11 in the region of the wearers forehead to serve the dual purpose of supplying breathing air to the wearer and to prevent the formation of condensation on the visor in a manner readily understood.

The forward portion of the helmet is formed in any suitable manner to provide a recess or pocket 17 for a transparent face visor 18. The upper edge of the visor 18 is provided with a metallic or the like frame 19 on the outside thereof which is secured thereto in any suitable manner as by adhesive, rivets or thelike. Any suitable means such as the metal spring clip 20 is fixed in the pocket 17 at the top thereof to resiliently engage upper edge of the visor and frame for releasably securing the visor in the retracted position showin in FIGURE 1. The lower portion of the helmet rim, rearwardly of the pocket 17 is provided with a sealing strip 21 of any suitable impervious elastomeric material. The upwardly curved lower edge of the visor is provided with a sealing strip 22 which is substantially the same in structure and shape as the strip 21 of the shell. As best seen in FIGURES 2,5, and 8, the free ends 23 and 24 respectively of the strips 21, to abut and provide a smooth butt joint when the visor 18 is in the lowered or operative position. This is accomplished by slightly visor or both until the free ends 23 and 24 are aligned.

As best seen in FIGURES 1 and 4, the inside forward edge of the visor pocket 17 is chamfered as at 2'5 and mounts thereon a-ch'evron-shapel sealing strip 26 of any.

visor and the helmet Eachside of the helmet shell in the region of the brim thereof is formed with a downwardly inclined slot 28. The lower ends of the slots 28'are angularly downwardly directed to provide foot, portions 29 for a purposeto be apparent. The floor of the slot 28 in the embodiment illustrated comprises a strip 30 secured across the undersurface of the shell by any suitable means so as to close the bottom of the slot. the strips 30 are formed with recesses 31 and 32 respectively. The apices of the visor 18 are extended as tabs 33,

- Patented Mar. 28, 1967 suitable point on the shell 11 to provide means for supplying air to the interior of 22 are shaped complementarily so asotfsettingthe end edge of the shell or to form a gas tight The upper and lower ends of.

33 which generally overlie the slots 28. Tubular rivets or the like 34, 34 are fixed through holes in the tabs 33 and have lower ends which are slidably secured in the slots 28. Cross pieces 35 extend across the rivets 34 and have closed and radially outwardly flanged lower ends 39. The flanged lower ends 39 prevent withdrawal of the shanks 37 from the slots 28. Expansive springs 40 are disposed in the hollow shanks 37 between the cross pieces 35 and the closed lower ends 39 whereby to load such lower ends against the floor 30 of the slot 28 in a manner readily understood.

When the visor 18 is raised the buttons 38 are at the upper ends of the slots 28 and the flanged lower ends 39 are seated in the upper recesses 31. As 'best seen in broken lines, FIGURE 10, the visor is now retained in raised or retracted position. To lower the visor, the wearer grasps the buttons 38 and raises them against the action of the springs 40 until the flanged lower ends 39 are clear of the recesses 31. The shanks 37 together with the attached visor may now be slid down the slots 28 to a mid point illustrated in solid lines, FIGURE 10. Twisting of the buttons 38 will lower the visor 18 to the lowered position. The buttons 38 are now moved to the lowermost ends of the slots 28 and flanged lower ends are seated in the lower recesses 32. When the button shanks 37 enter the angularly disposed foot portions 29 of the slots 28, a rearward pulling action is exerted on the tabs 33 of the visor whereby the same is pulled rearwardly so that the rear ends 24 of the sealing strip 22 are pulled into compressive engagement with the front ends 23 of the helmet sealing strip 21 whereby to form a tight butt joint. This point, together with that formed by the chevron-shaped sealing strip leg 27 with the upper edge of the visor provides a gas tight seal between the visor and helmet.

The foregoing structure provides a continuous seal ing strip entirely around the helmet and visor combination to which any suitable garment can be connected. In the embodiment illustrated, a coverall-type of garment is fragmentarily shown at 41, FIGURES 3, 5, 6 and 7, and includes an enlarged collar 42. The upper edge of the collar 42 is shaped to be complementary to the profile of the lower edge of the helmet-visor assembly and is formed with a sealing strip 43 which is complementary to the combined sealing strip 21, 22 aforesaid. Thus, in the species shown, the collar mounted sealing strip 43 is in the form of a channel of any suitable elastomeric material, usually the same as that forming the first strip 21, 22. The sealing strip 43 is formed with a channel which is slightly smaller than the outside dimensions of the strip 21, 22 whereby to engage the same resiliently to insure a gas tight seal. To enhance this seal, the outer surface of the collar 42 is formed with an inelastic compression band 44 in overlying relation to the sealing channel 43. The ends of compression band 44 are connected together in any suitable manner as by providing one end with a wire loop 45 and the other end with an over center latch 46. Such a latch may comprise a latch lever 49, pivoted on pin 47 and formed with a hook or foot 48 for engaging the loop 45. When the lever 49, FIGURE 7, is moved to the right, the hook 48 is uppermost and the loop 45 is not under tension and may be uncoupled from the latch. Sealing strips 21, 22 may be separated from sealing strip 43 by peeling. When the lever is returned to the FIGURE 7 position the sealing strips 21, 22 and 43 are positively secured together and cannot become accidently separated.

Collar 42 may have a front opening which may be closed by a gas tight zipper 50 and may also be provided with one or more exhaust ports 51, FIGURE 3, of any suitable and well known check valve form.

While there has been shown and described what is now thought to be the preferred species of the invention, it should be understood that the same is susceptible of other forms and expressions. Consequently, the invention is not considered to be limited to the precise structures shown and described hereinabove but only as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A helmet comprising a protective shell, said shell including means providing a housing for a visor, a protective visor of transparent material, means pivotally mounting said visor on said helmet for pivotal movement outwardly of said housing to an operative position, said visor having an upper edge disposed inwardly of said housing at times, said upper edge of said visor and said housing including cooperative means providing a gas tight seal therebetween, said helmet having a brim, a sealing strip along said brim outwardly thereof, said visor having a lower edge, a sealing strip along said lower edge of said visor, said strips having end edges, said end edges of said strips abutting when said visor is in said operative position to provide a continuous sealing strip entirely around said shell and visor, an impervious garment portion having an upper edge, a second sealing strip along said upper edge of said garment and complementary to said sealing strips of said visor and brim, said complementary sealing strips being interengaged providing a gas tight seal between said garment portion and said visor and helmet.

2. A helmet according to claim 1, there being means securing said complementary sealing strips in sealing engagement with each other.

3. A helmet according to claim 1, one of said sealing strips being formed with a continuous channel, the other being shaped for a close fit in said channel, flexible securing means overlying said strips, and means for tightening said securing means for readily detachably securing said sealing strips together.

4. A helmet comprising a protective shell, a visor of transparent material, means pivotally mounting said visor on said helmet for pivotal movement to and from raised and lowered positions, said visor having an upper edge, means providing a gas tight seal between said upper edge of said visor and said shell when said visor is in said lowered position, said helmet having a brim, said visor having a lower edge comprising a continuation of said brim when said visor is in said lowered position, like sealing strips on said lower edge of said visor and said brim of said helmet providing a continuous sealing strip entirely around said helmet and visor with said visor in said lowered position, an impervious garment portion having an upper edge, a sealing strip on the upper edge of said garment complementary to those of said brim and visor, and said complementary sealing strips being interengaged providing a gas tight seal between said garment portion and said visor and brim.

5. A helmet comprising a protective shell, a visor of transparent material, means pivotally mounting said visor on said shell for movement to and from raised and lowered positions, said visor and shell having abutting end edges with said visor in said lowered position, a garment collar, and a continuous sealing strip around said visor and shell together with a complementary sealing strip on said garment collar interengaged with said first-named sealing strip to provide a gas tight seal between said garment collar and said visor and shell.

6. A helmet according to claim 5, there being clamp means for securing said sealing strips in sealing engagement with each other.

7. A helmet comprising a protective shell having a lower edge extending around the rear and sides thereof, a visor having a lower edge, means mounting said visor on said shell for pivotal movement to and from raised and lowered positions, sealing strips on said lower edges of said shell and visor, said sealing strips having abutting end edges with said visor in said lowered position to provide a continuous sealing strip extending entirely around said shell and visor, an annular garment collar, said collar having an annular sealing strip fixed thereto and extend-- ing around the same, and said sealing strips being interengaged providing a gas tight seal between said collar and said visor and shell.

8. A helmet according to claim 7, wherein said shell includes a front brim and said visor includes an upper edge, and means providing a gas tight seal between said upper edge of said visor and said front brim of said helmet.

9. A hehnet comprising aprotective shell having a lower edge extending around the rear and sides thereof, a visor having a lower edge, sealing strips on said lower edges of said shell and visor, said sealing strip of said shell having forward ends, said sealing strip of said visor having rear ends complementary to said front ends of said shell sealing strip, mounting means mounting said visor for movement from a raised inoperative position to a lowered face covering position, said front and rear ends of said strips abutting with said visor in said lowered position, said mounting means including cam means operative to slightly compress together said abutting ends of said sealing strips when said visor reaches said lowered position, and means for sealing a garment to said sealing strips of said shell and visor.

10. A helmet according to claim 9, wherein said mounting means for said visor includes two pin and slot connections between said visor and helmet, each said slot having one end angularly directed relative to the rest of the slot to provide said cam means.

11. A helmet according to claim 10, wherein said slots are formed on said helmet and said pins are mounted on said visor, said slots being formed with detents at each end for releasably securing said pins thereat, whereby to latch said visor in said raised and lowered positions.

12. A helmet according to claim 11, wherein said pins include means mounting the same for movement into and out of engagement with said detents, and spring means loading said pins into engagement with said detents.

13. A helmet according to claim 4, wherein said garment portion includes compression means overlying said sealing strip of said garment, and means for actuating said compression means for positively securing said last named sealing strip in sealing engagement with said strips of said helmet and visor.

14. A helmet according to claim 13, wherein said compression means comprises an inelastic strip on said garment portion, said compression strip having opposite ends, and means for readily releasably securing said ends together so as to impart radially inwardly directed compressive pressure on said sealing strip of said garment portion.

15. A helmet according to claim 9, and a garment which includes a collar portion having a free edge formed with means interfitting with said sealing strips of said helmet and visor with the latter in the lowered position sealing said strips to said garment.

16. A helmet according to claim 15, and compression means for tightening the engagement of said sealing strips with said interengaging means of said collar.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,394,078 2/1946 Krupp 22 2,860,343 11/1958 Aileo 26 2,935,985 5/1960 Andrews et a1. 26 3,066,305 12/1962 Aileo 210 X 3,127,616 4/1963 Schueller 26 3,162,862 12/1964 Miller 26 3,239,843 3/ 1966 Lobelle 26 FOREIGN PATENTS 533,291 9/1955 Italy.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

J. R. BOLER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HELMET COMPRISING A PROTECTIVE SHELL, SAID SHELL INCLUDING MEANS PROVIDING A HOUSING FOR A VISOR, A PROTECTIVE VISOR OF TRANSPARENT MATERIAL, MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID VISOR ON SAID HELMET FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OUTWARDLY OF SAID HOUSING TO AN OPERATIVE POSITION, SAID VISOR HAVING AN UPPER EDGE DISPOSED INWARDLY OF SAID HOUSING AT TIMES, SAID UPPER EDGE OF SAID VISOR AND SAID HOUSING INCLUDING COOPERATIVE MEANS PROVIDING A GAS TIGHT SEAL THEREBETWEEN, SAID HELMET HAVING A BRIM, A SEALING STRIP ALONG SAID BRIM OUTWARDLY THEREOF, SAID VISOR HAVING A LOWER EDGE, A SEALING STRIP ALONG SAID LOWER EDGE OF SAID VISOR, SAID STRIPS HAVING END EDGES, SAID END EDGES OF SAID STRIPS ABUTTING WHEN SAID VISOR IS IN SAID OPERATIVE POSITION TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS SEALING STRIP ENTIRELY AROUND SAID SHELL AND VISOR, AN IMPERVIOUS GARMENT PORTION HAVING AN UPPER EDGE, A SECOND SEALING STRIP ALONG SAID UPPER EDGE OF SAID GARMENT AND COMPLEMENTARY TO SAID SEALING STRIPS OF SAID VISOR AND BRIM, SAID COMPLEMENTARY SEALING STRIPS BEING INTERENGAGED PROVIDING A GAS TIGHT SEAL BETWEEN SAID GARMENT PORTION AND SAID VISOR AND HELMET. 